You read that right:
New Hartford Town Taxes in New York Mills are going up not the 54% reported by the O-D, but 800%.
To those poor souls (and you WILL be poor after this is over) who live in the NH section of NYM, your town tax rate for next year, unless there are more cuts, will be $1.22 per thousand vs. the $0.15 per thousand you paid this year.
It's my understanding that Ms. Krupa will be holding public meetings on this soon.
Frankly, this is one affected person who WILL NOT attend. I've done my share of circulating petitions, going to Town Board meetings, participating in advisory groups . . . and it has been a waste of time because when it comes time to vote, NYM residents vote for their friend or neighbor or party or the person whose ethnic ancestry matches theirs rather than on where the candidate stands on ISSUES.
Perhaps this is because NYM residents -- and residents of this entire area -- don't really understand the issues. This could be because they are too busy working trying to make ends meet -- or because they mistakenly rely on the Observer-Dispatch's framing of the issues. Whatever the reason, they need to wake up, make it their business to understand what is happening, and make themselves heard . . . en masse. And for that to happen . . .
Things need to really hurt.
5 comments:
The main Problem is that it takes effort to actually do something to bring about change. It is incredibly easy for someone to sit around and complain about everything that other people are doing, so why try and change it and possibly subject yourself to that same criticism.
Unfortunately I agree with you that it takes something extreme, like an 800% tax increase, to open people's eyes to what is going on. But even then, will it rile people up enough to actually do something? Politics in this area comes does indeed come down more to who you know, rather than where you stand.
I guess we shall see.
You are prcisely right. We've made our own political bed. Rather than attend meetings, it would be best to focus on why the population here is content with being political sheep. The ethnicity facor is but one explanation albeit an important one. It is little wonder that the most enlightened of us with financial and personal flexibilty select to vote with their feet.
Amen . . . Amen . . . Amen.
This past week I was in a local locker room where I overheard two people commiserating over the proposed New Hartford Town tax increase. They were lamenting on how the Town Board were “victims” of the faltering economy. When they mentioned the dwindling sales tax revenue, they failed to realize that the New Hartford Legislators purposefully overestimated their sales tax revenue for their third budget cycle. These two local “professionals” were obviously misinformed. It was as if they took the radio and televised news media sound bites of the Town Officials as gospel. I cannot help but wonder if during Councilwoman Krupa’s informational public meeting, she being a legal as well as a financial professional will inform the public that somehow she overlooked the budgetary overestimating of revenues and the deficit spending of public funds that precipitated this colossal tax increase?
You are right, but I don't know if this apathy is anything new in human history. It seems to be a never-ending cycle.
There are many communities in which the people are not apathetic. These are the low tax high growth areas in various parts of the country. One finds pockets of success even in the northeast. Apathy is a choice.
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